Hundreds of thousands without power in the U.S. after a powerful winter storm

Bitter cold is gripping much of the country after a massive winter storm swept across the U.S., dumping ice, sleet and snow from New Mexico to the eastern seaboard. At least 18 deaths are attributed to the weather, according to The Associated Press. Nearly half the nation’s population was impacted by the winter freeze, which knocked out power, made road conditions hazardous, and disrupted some of the nation’s busiest airports.

Heavy snow is still falling in the northeast, and the National Weather Service (NWS) warns the frigid temperatures will persist over the eastern two-thirds of the U.S. this week. “Numerous record lows are forecast,” according to the NWS forecast. “Sub-zero lows are expected nearly every morning from the Northern Plains through the Ohio Valley and into the Northeast.”

Ice-covered trees and power lines knocked out power for more than a million customers across the South at the peak of the storm. By mid-morning Monday more than 800,000 homes and businesses remained without electricity, according to PowerOutage.com. Though the number of outages dropped below 700,000 by early afternoon.

The ongoing freeze is hampering the work to restore electricity. Middle Tennessee Electric is asking for patience, saying crews have been “fighting tree after tree,” in a social media post. “As soon as they can get a line back up, another tree falls, knocking it back out.”  

Officials are urging people to stay off the roads until the ice melts, which could be days.

“Unfortunately, the risk of power outages and slick roads is not over,” says North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein. “Temperatures will remain dangerously cold throughout the week, especially at night, so please stay safe.”  

“This storm blanketed Kentucky with snow, sleet and ice for 36 hours straight and now dangerously low temperatures will continue,” says Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear. “With these dangerously cold temperatures, if your power is out, we need you to get to a warming center.”

In Mississippi, where the northern part of the state is covered in ice, state emergency officials are distributing generators and fuel, cots and blankets, and food and water to affected counties. The University of Mississippi says classes in Oxford are canceled through Sunday.

More than 20 inches of snow have fallen in Massachusetts, prompting closures of schools and government offices. “We’re New Englanders. We’re tough. But we have to take this storm seriously,” says Gov. Maura Healey.

On Sunday alone, more than 12,000 airline flights were cancelled, and more than 5,000 by mid-day Monday according to FlightAware. New York’s busy LaGuardia Airport closed and grounded all flights Sunday afternoon. Data from the aviation analytics firm Cirium shows Sunday’s cancellations were the highest since the pandemic. 

The Federal Aviation Administration says seven people were killed when a private jet crashed on takeoff during a snowstorm in Bangor, Maine. One crew member survived. Though Maine Public reports airport officials in Bangor say the plane’s manifest only listed six people, all of whom died.